


I Could Learn To Miss You

by disasterboy



Series: red carnation [2]
Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Young Veins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Happy Endings For Everyone, M/M, also everyone dies??, mostly involving fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 15:57:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7808086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disasterboy/pseuds/disasterboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>All of Jon's friends die</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Sequel to The Language of Flowers, I guess it could be read on its own but it wouldn't make much sense if you did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Could Learn To Miss You

**Author's Note:**

> yes yes, milo's back with the happy ending sequel that took nearly a year to write!! truthfully i had the whole thing finished on livejournal and ready to publish but i fucked up and lost like 2/3 of it so i had to write it from scratch, im sorry. anyway, i hope you enjoy!!

Jon found himself in a forest seconds after he moved on. Looking around himself, he took in his surroundings before standing up, brushing the dirt off of his calves. The sky was a pale blue in between the leaves and branches, and Jon followed where the sun was rising in the horizon until he reached a very large clearing in what seemed to be the middle of the forest. 

"Oh." The bearded man took a few steps forward until he was in the middle of the clearing. "This is Heaven?" Mainly he was talking to himself, more confused than anything else. He had imagined Heaven like how most Christians pictured it; large, golden gates on top of white fluffy clouds, with somebody waiting outside of the gates to welcome you inside. Jon shrugged; if this is what he got, then he wouldn't complain. Suddenly, though, the scene around him changed, and he actually was in front of large golden gates, and he actually was standing on top of white fluffy clouds.

"What the fuck?", he loudly asked. Somebody coughed to clear their throat, and Jon turned to find a person standing not too far from him. The person was very tall, very thin, and had glasses perched upon their hooked nose, and ultimately Jon just became more confused when they pulled a clip board out from behind their back. Jon couldn't tell if this person was male or female.

"Uh, sorry."

"It's fine. Cursing isn't really one of the things we care about anymore.", the person replied. "I was just trying to get your attention. So, you're new here, right?"

"Yes?"

"Cool. Let's see... Jonathan Jacob Walker, died May 15th, 1957. Wow, you've been a ghost for quite some time, haven't you?", they said, looking down at their clipboard before looking back at Jon.

"I guess?"

"So, since you're new, let me explain everything. People picture Heaven like this; gates, clouds, eternal happiness, right? Wrong. Well, the eternal happiness part is true, but everything else is wrong. Heaven is basically like beauty; it's in the eye of the beholder. You can make it look like whatever. The default for new people is that forest you just showed up in, but you can change anything at any time. Some people chose to live in a mansion, or in a version of where they lived while they were alive. If a person is new, we pull them here to explain everything and then send them back to the forest so they can continue with their eternal happiness.

"Now, often times, a group of people like your friends and family will show up with you in your Heaven. They can change things too, because ultimately it's their Heaven too. While they're still alive, you can watch over them from Heaven. The "angels watching over us" thing wasn't a lie, you know. When you return, there should be a giant hole in the middle of the clearing, and that hole will follow you no matter what you change Heaven into. Think of it as a glass window to the world of the living, alright?" The person gave Jon a minute to process all of the information before smiling at him.

"Alright. It's time for you to go back, now. If you have any questions, just ask." The person snapped their fingers and suddenly Jon was returned to the forest. Just as the person said, there was a large hole in the middle of the forest floor, and Jon hurried to crouch next to the edge. There was Chicago, spread out underneath him. He could clearly see everything that was happening, from Brendon heading into work looking more subdued than normal to Spencer and Ryan crowded around his gravestone. Spencer handed Ryan a bouquet of flowers, and Ryan kneeled down and placed the bouquet on top of Jon's grave. He wanted to see what the bouquet was more clearly, but he couldn't make out the individual flowers, or what was on the note that went with them. Within a second, Jon held an identical copy of the bouquet in his hand, and his eyebrows shot up. 

"Okay, sure, I guess that works." He set the flowers down and took out the note, reading over it before placing it it in his pocket. He moved over close to the clearing's edge and buried the bouquet in the ground. Hopefully, more flowers would grow, and he would have a reminder of Spencer no matter what he did.

* * *

Three years after Jon moved on, Frank joined him in Heaven. Jon was surprised, really; he had expected Frank to wander the Earth long after their human friends were gone. When Frank spotted Jon, stepping out of the treeline that surrounded the clearing and nearly trampling Jon's little garden, the tiny man practically threw himself at his friend. Jon hugged him back just as tightly, happy to finally see one of his friends again.

"Jonathan Walker. Oh man, at least I have you to keep me company until Gee gets here.", Frank said once they had broken apart. Jon was silent for a few moments, taking in the whirlwind of color that made up Frank's tattoos- seeing them now was so much different to seeing them when they were translucent- before asking the question burning into his head.

"What happened? Why did you move on?" Truthfully, Jon could have seen what happened with his magical spyglass or whatever, but he had conjured up a copy of his favorite book and was busy reading.

"I found a ring in Gerard's closet, and suddenly I'm up here with you. I guess that was the unfinished business I left behind; finding out whether Gee really loved me or not.", Frank sighed.

"Well, it's great to have you here.", Jon said. Frank nodded, his old wide grin returning.

"So, I guess it's just you and me for the next fifty years, then.", he said. Jon nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Let's hope we don't see anyone we know until then.", he agreed. With a loud 'pop', however, Frank disappeared, and Jon momentarily panicked before he remembered when he had first showed up and he had been transported to the literal gates of Heaven. He sat down and waited for a few minutes before Frank reappeared, looking bewildered and confused.

"Welcome back."

"Did you..." Frank blinked several times, sitting down next to Jon. "Did that happen to you when-"

"Yep."

"Okay then."

* * *

The next time someone joins them, however, it's Tom a few months later. Jon was tending to his garden of flowers (which had come in nicely since he buried the flowers Spencer had gotten him three years ago), and Frank was adding some more flower seeds next to Jon's.

"Hello?", someone called out. Instantly Jon and Frank were on their feet, looking around until Tom emerged from the treeline, twigs and leaves tangled in his long hair. Tom had gone back to looking like he had when Jon knew him, and a wave of memories crashed over Jon. It takes a few moments for Tom to notice the two other men, but when he does his eyes narrow as he tries to get a better look at the two of them.

"Jon? Jon, is that you?", he finally asked. Jon nodded, and several seconds later his arms were full of his best friend.

"God, I missed you so fucking much. It's been, what, sixty years now?"

"Sixty-one, to be exact, but who's counting?", Jon mumbled into Tom's neck. They stayed like that, hugging each other tightly and not letting go, until Frank let out a cough.

"Look, I know you've been apart for sixty years and all, but I'm kinda hungry." Jon rolled his eyes as he and Tom broke apart.

"Tom, this is Frank. I met him three years ago when we were both ghosts. Frank, this is Tom, my best friend since diapers." This lifted Tom's eyebrows.

"You were a ghost?", he asked.

"For fifty-eight years, yeah. I tried to visit you, but you couldn't see me. Not very many people could.", Jon explained. Tom looked sad for a moment, before Frank cut in and once again stated that he was hungry.

"Wait, we need to eat up here too?", Tom asked. Before Frank could reply, Tom had vanished, and Frank cursed. 

"Damn, I wanted to explain it. Oh well, better leave it to the professionals. While he's gone, let's-"

"Yes, Frank, you're perpetually hungry, we get it.", Jon interrupted. "We're waiting for Tom to get back, though, so you can wait a few more minutes." Frank pouted, and kept pouting until Tom came back and he instantly perked up again.

"Food."

"Jesus Christ, okay, we'll get food.", Jon sighed, rolling his eyes yet again. Tom smiled, and Jon couldn't help but smile back in return.

* * *

"So, tell me about this Spencer boy.", Tom demanded. "I didn't really get to know him when he and his friend tracked me down to ask about you." It had been nearly fifteen years since Tom and Frank had joined him in Heaven, and so far Jon had only told Tom fleeting details about Spencer. Jon sighed loudly, watching as Tom hung himself upside-down from a tree branch.

"I met him as a ghost. He was the reason I moved on, actually.", he began. "He was one of the few people who could see me, and he was a douche to me at first."

"Then why do you talk about him like a teenage girl with a crush?", Tom asked, smirking at Jon, who punched his shoulder.

"I said 'at first', asshole. Anyway, we became friends, and we fell in love. And then we kissed, and then I moved on. Simple as that."

"So, what, finding love is what made you move on?" Jon nodded in response. His hands fiddled with a rose he had picked up earlier from one of the rose bushes growing in an ever-growing circle around the edge of the clearing, twirling the flower back and forth between his fingers.

"I think it's because you kept trying to set me up with all of your gay friends, and I never really hit it off with any of them."

"Huh.", Tom muttered. "He must have been something special, then, if you managed to take a liking to him."

"Stop talking like your dad, douchebag. It's annoying." Suddenly, a voice rang out, soft but familiar in Jon's ears, and Frank, who had been perched on the branch beside Tom, crashed down onto the ground.

"Holy shit, is that-", Jon asked, but his sentence trailed off into nothing as a familiar head poked through the branches of an old oak tree. Jon could practically feel Frank shaking as Gerard stepped out in the open, eyes searching around until they landed on Jon and Frank.

"Jon? Frankie? Is that you?", Gee asked. Frank, in response, simply launched himself at his boyfriend, clinging to him for dear life as Gee hugged him back just as tightly. Gerard had dyed his hair white, and he had cut it from it's usual shaggy appearance to a much closer cut, although a beanie covered most of his head.

"Holy shit, I missed you guys so much.", Gerard mumbled into the top of Frank's head. He broke away to engulf Jon in a bone-crushing hug, which Jon happily returned.

"What the hell happened? Why are you up here so soon?", Frank asked, tugging on Gee's sleeve.

"Mikey and I were working in Starbucks, right? Completely normal day, Spencer came in and ordered his usual, and we were chatting about random things- Jon, you, work, the usual- and then bam! Something catches on fire in the back, and I push Mikey and Spencer out the door before grabbing the fire extinguisher. But by then, the fire was too big for that, and Spencer ran in to save me like the dumbass he is. Before I know it, something explodes, and I'm up here." Something contorts itself into a knot inside of Jon's chest at the mention of Spencer.

"Is Spencer okay? Please don't tell me he's dead, I don't-"

"Relax, Jon. I don't know if he's dead.", Gerard said. "I guess we'll find out if he joins us."

"Wait, Jon, come here.", Tom said. Jon looked over to find Tom kneeling down next to the hole in the ground, and instantly the other three men were kneeling beside him.

"Wait, who's he?", Gee asked, motioning to Tom.

"This is Tom. We were best friends when I was alive. Tom, this is Gerard, Frank's boyfriend.", Jon introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Tommy.", Gerard said. He turned to look at what everyone else was looking, and Jon saw shock spread out on his face before he suddenly disappeared. Frank made a small noise in the back of his throat but nobody bothered looking up as the scene below them came into focus. The view zoomed in on the Starbucks where Gerard used to work, now burned down to the ground. Mikey was sitting on the sidewalk in front of the store, head in his hands as his shoulders shook with sobs. A man that Jon had never seen before sat down next to him, wrapping Mikey in a tight hug, and Jon realized that this must be Ray, Mikey's boyfriend that he had often bragged about.

"Aw, Mikes, don't cry.", Gerard whispered. When Jon looked over at him, he had returned from being called away, and Jon could see tears welling in his eyes. Something else caught his eye, though, and when he moved his gaze he saw Brendon and Ryan huddled together not too far away. A pang of longing rang throughout Jon's chest as he looked over two of his closest friends. Ryan had his face pressed into Brendon's chest, and Brendon had his head buried in Ryan's hair, hands in a death grip on the back of Ryan's shirt. A medic approached them, tapping Ryan on the shoulder. Even from this high up, Jon could hear her words clearly.

"Are you friends of Spencer Smith?", she asked. Both men nodded, and the lady ran a hand over the back of her neck.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but Mr. Smith has passed on. We recovered the body, but I'm afraid he was already gone by the time we pulled him out." This only caused Ryan to cry harder, clinging to Brendon as sobs racked his thin body. The medic placed a comforting hand on Ryan's shoulder before moving on to Mikey and Ray. Jon felt a hand on his arm, and when he turned he saw Frank looking at him with wide eyes. His face was a little blurry, and with a shock he realized that he was crying, too.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. He's with Jon now, remember?", Brendon mumbled into Ryan's hair, bringing Jon back to reality.

"Guys, I'm not in Heaven yet! Hey, Ryan! Brendon!", a voice- terribly familiar to Jon, pulling at his heart- rang out, and when Jon looked behind Brendon there was, indeed, a see-through Spencer waving his hands around and shouting. Neither Brendon nor Ryan reacted to his cries, but Mikey lifted his head and stared directly at Spencer.

"Oh, thank God, at least someone can see me.", Spencer sighed. Mikey stood up on his feet, startling Ray, and launched himself at Spencer.

"Don't scare me like that again, asshole. I thought I had lost both you and Gee.", Mikey said, his voice shaky as Spencer hugged him back. By then, Brendon and Ray were staring at Mikey, probably only seeing him hug empty space.

"I need your help. Nobody else can see me, so I want you to let Brendon and Ryan know that I'm a ghost."

"Even better than that, Spencer, I can pull the psychic shit again, like we did with Frank, and then they'll be able to see you.", Mikey said. At this, Ryan lifted his head from Brendon's shoulder and stared holes into Mikey's skull.

"Did you just say Spencer? Is he a ghost?", Ryan asked. Mikey nodded, letting go of Spencer.

"If he's a ghost, then we need to find out what will make him move on so he can see Jon again.", Brendon said.

"No, no! I don't want to move on just yet! I want to stay with you guys!", Spencer cried. Jon suddenly stood up, brushed off the bottom of his jeans, and stalked away into the woods. He ignored the calls and cries of his friends and continued walking.

* * *

Over the course of the next few years, Jon would spend countless hours watching his friends on Earth. He watched Spencer and Gerard's bodies get buried next to his in the old graveyard, at Ryan's request. He saw Brendon break down sobbing when gay marriage was legalized nation-wide one full year after the anniversary of Spencer and Gerard's death. He saw Ryan spending an agonizing hour deciding on the perfect ring. He saw the cheesy but sentimental proposal of Ryan giving Brendon a bouquet- identical to the one Brendon had given him all those years ago- with a ring attached to the note. It was a small wedding, with only Mikey, Ray, and several of Ryan and Brendon's coworkers (including their managers, Patrick and Pete) in attendance. Nobody asked why Ryan didn't have a (visible) best man, but Jon and most of the groomsmen could see Spencer shining with pride in the presumably empty space.

"They're cute, you know.", Tom spoke up, appearing by Jon's side. "Ryan and Brendon."

"Yeah, I know. Took nineteen years for them to get married, but yeah. They're pretty cute.", Jon agreed. His eyes never left Spencer, though, who was currently sitting next to Ryan, laughing as Mikey gave a speech, telling embarrassing stories about the happy couple. Tom followed his line of sight, sighing softly.

"He misses you, you know. A lot."

"How can you tell?", Jon asked. He looked behind them towards his little garden, which actually wasn't so little anymore. Both Gerard and Frank had added more of their own flowers to the mix, and now the various flowers surrounded the entire clearing in a circle.

"I can tell when someone has a broken heart, Jonny. Besides, the man stayed single for eighteen years because he was waiting for you. You can't tell me that he doesn't miss you.", Tom answered. Jon grunted in agreement, resting his head down on Tom's shoulder. When Tom lifted his arm to wrap itself around Jon's shoulders, Jon was grateful that Tom was back in his life. They had been best friends since they were both in diapers, and while Jon was happy that Tom had gotten the long life he had deserved, he had missed him greatly.

"You'll see him soon enough, Jon. Don't worry.", Tom said, reaching over with his free hand and ruffling Jon's hair.

* * *

"Today marks the twentieth anniversary of my death.", Gerard mumbled. The four friends were spread out on the forest floor, staring up at the stars. Gerard had suggested a night watching the stars, and suddenly the sky was plunged into night, with thousands of stars twinkling above them.

"I'm just glad that no one else has died for the past twenty years.", Frank said. Jon grunted in agreement, while Tom only sighed in content.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to break that streak.", a slow voice rumbled from a distance away. Jon instantly shot up, and, to both his dismay and joy, saw Ryan standing a few feet away from their small circle, carefully stepping over the ever-growing ring of flowers. Jon groaned, rubbing his hands over his face as he stood up.

"Why, Ry, why did you have to break our perfect streak?", Jon asked, smiling brightly as he hugged the taller male.

"Good to see you too, Walker.", Ryan laughed, hugging Jon back just as tightly. Ryan had, thankfully, stopped straightening his hair, and it was now soft and wavy-looking. Stubble lined his chin, but other than that he looked like he had when Jon had moved on, eyeliner included.

"Ryro! Good to see you, buddy!", Frank yelled, scrambling to his feet and squeezing Ryan as soon as Jon had let go. Gerard joined in on the hug, squishing Frank in between the two taller men, and Jon laughed at Frank's expression.

"What the hell happened, man?", Gerard asked as he finally let Frank breath.

"Brendon and I were in the grocery store, and a man came up and tried to stab Brendon. I pushed him out of the way, and, well...", Ryan explained, trailing off at the end and gesturing vaguely towards the sky. "Hey, I didn't know they had nights up here."

"Normally, it's daytime, but Gerard wanted to see the stars.", Tom said. Ryan nodded, moving to shake Tom's hand. He and Spencer were at least somewhat acquainted with Tom, since they had spent a whole day reminiscing about Jon together many years ago.

"Well, hey, I'm not going to say no to stargazing.", he said, laying down next to where Jon had been. The other four resumed their old positions once more.

"Spencer says hi, by the way.", Ryan whispered once Jon had laid down next to him. Jon sighed, closing his eyes and letting emotions, both good and bad, wash over him at the mention of Spencer's name.

"After thirty-eight years of not seeing him, I still get butterflies.", Jon replied. Ryan laughed, the sound ringing out in the night air.

"That's a good sign, then. The gang is working tirelessly to find a way to make him move on, you know. He's getting impatient, and he misses you like hell."

"In case you didn't notice, we're not in hell.", Jon said. Ryan pushed his shoulder gently, a genuine smile on his face.

"Stop being technical, Jwalk."

"Did you have any ideas on what would make Spence move on? We're getting tired of seeing Jon mope around.", Frank suddenly said.

"I do not mope.", Jon denied, but he knew arguing was a lost cause.

"No clue, but it must have something to do with Jon.", Ryan admitted. "We've tried every other possibility there is; work, family, everything. Hell, we even managed to solve the murder case. Man, the police were ticked when he did-"

"Wait, what murder case?", Gerard asked, suddenly shifting so he was staring at Ryan until he replied.

"Oh, right. We found out that the fire wasn't an accident." Everyone was silent for a moment before Tom coughed and asked who did it.

"Brent Wilson. He was a friend of ours from Vegas. He was kind of ticked that we didn't take him with us when we ran away, and he moved out to Chicago as soon as possible. He and Spencer got into a fight a few days before, though, and he got so mad that he set the Starbucks on fire.", Ryan said. "Sorry, Gee." Silence settled over the group again, tensed and uncomfortable, before Gerard sighed and laid back down.

"Whatever, I'm dead anyway. What am I going to do about it?", he said. Frank rested his hand over top of Gerard's as Ryan cleared his throat and spoke again.

"But yeah, we've exhausted every possible approach except for things that have to do with you.", he explained. Jon sighed, but didn't reply as they settled back into silently staring at the stars. Soon, Ryan disappeared, but reappeared in the exact same position he had left in, and the rest of the time until sunrise was spent in silence.

* * *

It was once again Christmas Eve at the Urie household. Ever since Ryan died, Mikey and Ray (and Spencer, unofficially) had moved in with Brendon in the same house he had owned since he first moved to Chicago almost fifty years ago. The year after Jon had moved on Ryan had deemed it tradition to spend the night at home, curled up in the gigantic living room while watching movies and eating cookies and pizza. In all honesty Spencer liked the tradition, even if it made no sense in his eyes but he wasn't one to complain. Even though only four of their original friend group remained, they still planned to carry out the tradition anyway. Brendon was, of course, stretched out over all of their laps on the couch, and of course they were watching Ryan's necessary list of Christmas movies again (Brendon had the written list taped to the wall next to the television so they wouldn't forget). Not much had changed, even as time flowed on.

"Brendon, are you sure the cookies aren't burning?", Mikey asked nonchalantly, not moving from where he was cuddled up against Ray as he spoke. When Brendon lifted his head and sniffed the air, he immediately smelled smoke and shot up off of his friends as fast as possible.

"Damn it!" Brendon raced off into the kitchen as fast as he could, muttering about how Ryan usually kept the cookies from burning when he was alive. 

"And this is why nobody trusts you with food!", Spencer called out. All three men laughed at their scatter-brained friend as Brendon returned with a pile of slightly burned cookies in various Christmas-related shapes mounted up on a plate. Ray immediately reached out and grabbed several of them, shoving them into his mouth at the same time like.

"Don't be such a pig, Ray.", Brendon snapped, holding the cookies above his head so nobody could get to them. Eventually he settled back down in between Mikey and Spencer, and Mikey took the plate of cookies and set them on the coffee table in front of him. As _A Christmas Carol_ played on the television in the background, Spencer surveyed the scene around him. Mikey and Ray were too caught up in each other to notice Brendon stealthily stealing the entire plate of cookies from right underneath their noses. His memory took him back to a scene almost twenty years ago, shattering his heart as he remembered sitting in the exact same spot he was now while telling Jon about his past. Spencer took a deep breath- more out of habit than necessity- and quietly stood up.

"Hey, where are you going?", Brendon asked, drawing the attention of the other two men as he stared at Spencer.

"I'm gonna go visit the graveyard. I'll be back in a little bit, I promise. I just need to..." Spencer trailed off, unable to say any more, before hurrying out of the front door. Brendon turned to the couple next to him, who both shrugged simultaneously. 

Once he was a little ways away from the house, Spencer slowed down, and it took him a few minutes to reach the old graveyard where everyone was buried. The city was confused when Ryan had asked Spencer and Gerard to be buried there, and even more confused when Ryan himself was put to rest next to them, but they granted their wishes nonetheless. Spencer was careful not to walk directly over the graves- he for a weird feeling whenever someone walked over his, and he wasn't sure the others would appreciate him doing the same to them- as he picked his way over to the headstone with Jon's name engraved in it. The flower bouquet he had left was long gone, but the laminated note he had placed with the bouquet still remained, partially stuck in the ground. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly the loud, all-too-familiar sirens of a fire engine cut him off before any actual words came out. The ghost whipped his head around to see a flash of bright red race past, following the exact same route he had taken to get to the graveyard from-

"Oh no...", he whispered. There was smoke rising in the distance, and immediately Spencer was on his feet, sprinting after the fire truck until he reached Brendon's house, now up in bright red flames. Without thinking, Spencer raced inside, easily gliding through the oak front doors and searching for his three best friends. He found them still on the couch, huddled together in fear as the fire grew and surrounded them.

"Spencer! Help us!", Brendon cried out as soon as he spotted his translucent friend. Spencer dashed forward, unaffected by the flames, and dragged all three men to their feet.

"It looks like the fire's only on three sides of you, but it's moving fast! If we hurry, you should all be able to make it out of the window in the bathroom and get outside before it's too late!", Spencer yelled back over the chaos when he reached the couch. Mikey nodded at him, gripping Ray's hand for dear life, and all four friends ran as fast as they could towards the bathroom on the other side of the house. When they were almost to safety, a horrifying creaking noise stopped the group in their tracks.

"What the hell is that?", Ray asked. His voice sounded panicked, and when Spencer turned to look at his friend Ray's eyes were wide with uncharacteristic fear.

"It's probably the support beams catching fire. We need to-" As soon as Spencer was about to say "hurry up", something large and wooden started falling down from the ceiling. The large piece of wood was headed straight for Ray and Mikey, but Mikey shoved Ray out of harm's way just as he disappeared underneath a pile of burning oak.

"Mikey!", Ray cried. He started to dive into the flames, but Brendon grabbed his hand to stop him. By then, thick smoke had started to fill the air, and Brendon coughed several times before speaking.

"Don't! It's too dangerous; we have to get out!" Brendon's sentence was broken with coughs at several intervals, and his voice was cracking dangerously. After he finished talking, he took a deep breath, but still held into Ray's wrist as Ray tried to free himself from Brendon's grip.

"I'm not leaving him!"

"Ray, he's gone! We need to go!", Spencer pleaded. If he didn't act soon, he would lose all of his living friends, and he wasn't about to let that happen any time soon. Ray's eyes now held deep sorrow and pain when he glared defiantly at Spencer, tears welling up despite the intense heat. He finally managed to free his hand from Brendon.

"If he's going to die, then I'm dying with him." Ray and Spencer remained still, staring at each other, before Spencer launched forward and hugged Ray. 

"Tell the guys I said hi.", Spencer whispered. Ray nodded before pushing Spencer and Brendon, who had started to slump forward on the floor, towards the bathroom door. As much as it hurt, Spencer picked up Brendon and trudged forward through the fire, ignoring the heartbreaking calls of Ray trying to find Mikey in order to get Brendon to safety. His childhood friend had stopped coughing and moving altogether, and by the time Spencer had opened the window and shoved Brendon through onto the yard outside and into the firefighter's waiting hands, he was worried Brendon had stopped breathing. He phased through the bathroom wall, and several seconds later, when both he and Brendon were a safe distance away from the house, something exploded with such ferocity that Spencer knew there was no hope of finding either Mikey or Ray alive. Medics rushed over towards Brendon's unconscious body, doing this and that as Spencer broke down in front of the fiery inferno. 

"Excuse me, sir, we need to get you out of the area and check you for any injuries.", a soft woman's voice said kindly. At first, Spencer didn't register that she was talking to him, but when he lifted his head there was a female firefighter with bright orange hair staring directly at him with a sympathetic expression on his face. It took a while, but eventually the girl seemed to realize that he was see-through, because she let out a small gasp and backed away a few feet.

"Are you-"

"Williams! Come on, what the hell are you doing? We need to put this fire out and look for anybody else in the house!", somebody else called out, distracting the firefighter for a brief second before she turned back to Spencer.

"I'll... I'll come back to you. Don't go anywhere, please."

* * *

"Holy shit.", Gerard whispered. Jon was honestly at a loss of words. He had just watched a roof collapse on top of both Mikey and Ray, while Brendon was taken away by EMTs and Spencer broke down sobbing on the front lawn. 

"What the fuck just happened?", Frank asked. There was rustling in the foliage behind the group of friends, and instantly Gerard was on his feet running to meet a bewildered Mikey, with Ray stumbling out right behind him. The flowers now took up most of the clearing (thanks to Ryan adding yet some more of his own), so when Mikey fell down after Gerard literally tackled him they landed in a patch of carnations, narrowly avoiding a rose bush.

"Gee? Holy shit, Gerard!", Mikey laughed, clinging to his brother as tightly as humanly possible. Mikey and Ray had both been transformed from the balding, old men Jon had just seen back into youthful young adults, with Mikey's signature grey beanie and square glasses returned to his face and Ray's afro restored to its former glory. Mikey and Gerard were both crying, as cheesy as that sounded, but Jon understood to an extent. Being away from your brother for 35 years must be painful.

"Fuck, I missed you guys!", Frank yelled. He jumped on top of the two brothers, squeezing them tightly as Ray, too, laid down in the flowers and joined the hug. Jon smiled, watching the family reunion before moving to hug Mikey and Ray once they all stood up again. He found that most of the reunions up in Heaven consisted of lots of hugging and sometimes tears, with hours spent in happy silence just relishing in the newcomer's company once again.

"By the way, you guys, Spencer says hi to all of you.", Ray blurted out once Ryan had stepped up to get his hugs. Suddenly, Jon scrambled back to the hole in the ground, looking down as Spencer talked with a young red haired girl while the ambulance holding Brendon sped away. He kept an eye on Spencer and the girl, watching as the girl sat down next to him and started asking him some questions like "who else was in the house?" and "do you have any idea what may have caused the fire?". Spencer looked like somebody had just ran him over with a truck ten times, his face filled with loneliness and misery, and it made Jon's heart break in half.

"Do you think Brendon's gonna die too?", Ryan asked, appearing next to Jon. Slowly, everyone else filtered back around the hole in the ground to watch the rest of the scene unfold beneath them.

"Probably, yeah.", Jon replied.

"We weren't able to get any closer to what his unfinished business was, and truthfully I think he was starting to get worried about never being able to move on because he couldn't find what his unfinished business was.", Mikey explained. "We know it has something to do with Jon, but I'm not sure what the specifics are." Jon let the words bounce around in his skull for a little bit, but there was still no clear solution to this that Jon could see.

* * *

"So, you're telling me that you've been a ghost for..."

"Roughly 35 years.", Spencer answered. He and Hayley were sitting side-by-side in a pair of identical hospital chairs. Brendon was laying in the bed in front of the chairs, only mildly burned but still unconscious. Spencer's line of sight hadn't moved from his friend ever since Brendon had been admitted to the hospital three days ago. He had followed the ambulance once Hayley had asked him some questions about who else had been in the house, which is how they managed to find Mikey and Ray under the pile of rubbish. Spencer couldn't bear to look at what they had recovered, but from what Hayley had said Ray had managed to eventually find Mikey, and they had died in each other's arms. He hadn't bothered to visit their graves yet; there would be plenty of time for that later, but right now he was only focused on Brendon, his last remaining friend. Hayley followed his gaze after his answer, and she sighed.

"It's possible that he could wake up, you know. It's a small chance, considering the amount of smoke he inhaled and his age, but there's still hope." Spencer snorted, obviously not believing her words but not wanting to bring down her hopeful mood. 

"How did you know him?"

"We've been friends since we were kids. We moved here from Vegas almost fifty years ago when his parents kicked him out for being gay."

"I'm sorry." Spencer didn't reply to Hayley, instead reaching out and grabbing Brendon's burned hand in his own see-through one.

"He's the last one."

"I'm sorry?"

"All of my friends are dead except for him. If he dies, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to move on."

"What do you mean?" Once again, Spencer was rudely interrupted by Brendon's heart monitor going haywire, and then stopping altogether.

"No... No, no, no! Brendon, no!", Spencer cried. He was out of his seat in a flash, grabbing Brendon's shoulders and shaking him violently. "Come on, Brendon, you have to wake up! Please, I can't do this without you!" Doctors and nurses suddenly filled the room, passing through Spencer as they grabbed the defibrillator to try and bring Brendon back to life. Hayley tried calming Spencer down, but she was quickly escorted out of the room and Spencer kept screaming. 

"You asshole, you can't... You can't fucking leave me alone like this! I need your help to move on; you're the only one left who _can_ help me! Please, I need you!" Eventually, the medical staff stopped trying, and Spencer's hysterics finally came to an end when one of the nurses held up her wristwatch to declare the official time of death. Spencer was left standing alone in the room with his friend's dead body laying only feet away from him. Hayley came back in, and she grabbed his hand without saying a word.

"You need to bury him with Ryan and the others.", Spencer sniffed out after a while. When Hayley tilted her head in confusion, Spencer listed off the address of the church connected to the graveyard that held all of his friends. When the doctors came back in to retrieve Brendon's body, Spencer left the room without a word, leaving Hayley to work out the details with the doctors. Walking out of the hospital doors, Spencer's feet carried him towards the only place left he had to go.

That was where Hayley found him; curled up next to Jon's tombstone, clutching the tiny laminated note in his hand. He vaguely wondered whether Jon had seen the flowers from wherever he was as Hayley's footsteps reached his ears.

"I still don't know how this little thing managed to survive for fifty years.", Spencer mumbled. Hayley only sighed, sitting down next to him on the compact earth.

"I'll help you."

"You'll what?"

"I'll help you move on, whatever that means.", Hayley repeated. "You said Brendon was the last one who could help you, but maybe if you explain what you meant earlier and _why_ Brendon was the last one then maybe I can finally find an answer for you." Spencer immediately perked up, staring at Hayley with widened eyes. 

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course I would." Hope soared in Spencer's chest as he looked up at the clouds, imagining Jon and all of his friends looking down at him from up above.

"Thank you, Hayley."

* * *

"I don't know, Spence. To me, it seems like the romance was a little too rushed.", Hayley said around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza. She and Spencer were lounging around Hayley's living room, which was a normal occurrence on Hayley's days off. When she wasn't working as a volunteer firefighter, she was working at the local pizzeria, and Spencer often times stayed close to her unless there was an emergency or she asked to be alone. At night, Spencer would spend the night on the couch, since his very tiny and very energetic friend wouldn't allow him to spend the night alone in the graveyard. Some nights, though, he would sneak out and visit his friends' graves, letting himself cry and reminisce for just a bit before heading back to Hayley's house before she wakes up.

Two years had passed since the fire, and so far Hayley and Spencer had managed to not only grow closer over time but also managed to get closer to cracking the code of Spencer's unfinished business.

"Okay, but I truly felt something. I know I had just met the guy, and he was dead and all, and I was kind of a major ass to him at fist, but I really felt like... Like I had found a piece of me that I didn't even know I was missing, like he completed me somehow. That's why I asked Brendon to tell him to stay away for a while, because I was both scared of ghosts and scared of what I was feeling."

"Wow, cliché much? But maybe that's what it is? You had to make sure he knew how you really felt towards him?"

"But I told him-"

"You told him you had a crush on him. From what you just said, that wasn't the extent of what you felt, and what you still feel fifty years later, you giant sap." Spencer smiled at his new friend right as Hayley's phone buzzed with a text from the chief at the fire station. He could always tell who was texting Hayley, because she assigned each contact a different vibration pattern.

"Shit, shit! There's a fire downtown and both Josh and Tyler are sick and can't come in today. I have to fill in for them.", Hayley said, shoving the rest of her piece of pizza in her mouth before sprinting towards the door. "Stay here until I come back. I should be home around 7 o'clock; it's only a small fire but it could easily spread to the forest behind the house, so we need to contain it before it does spread which means we're gonna have to be quick! Save another slice of pizza for me!" With that, she was gone, out the door faster than Spencer could say goodbye. Spencer sighed, laying down on the couch and letting Hayley's words sink in. ' _Let Jon know how I really felt? What does that mean?_ ' The thought floated around in his mind for a few hours, but he came up with absolutely no ideas. 

When Hayley didn't come back at 7, Spencer brushed it off. ' _The fire must have been bigger than she thought. Nothing she can't handle though._ '

When Hayley didn't come back at 7 in the morning the next day, however, Spencer started to get worried. He glided easily through the front door, and started wandering towards where the fire had been. When he arrived, he was not only greeted with the sight of a severely burned house, but a severely burned body as well. Spencer felt like he was about to throw up (if he physically could), and he was about to flee when he heard somebody talking.

"Victim's name is Hayley Williams, female, age 23, identified by her dental records. She lived alone, and worked at Felicia's Pizzeria.", one of the police stated.

"Do you think this could have been a murder?", the second one asked, taking in the corpse in front of him.

"No, Hayley was also a volunteer firefighter. She was called in last night because two of her coworkers called in sick, and she saved two little boys from the fire but was killed as a result of the rescue." Once again, Spencer found himself feeling sick to his stomach, and this time he actually did run away from the scene. He didn't know where he was going or where his feet were taking him, but soon enough he ended up at the old music store where Brendon had worked in his teenage years before he went off to college and got a better job. Patrick's son had sold it once Patrick himself had died, and it now stood empty, devoid of anything inside, but Spencer could almost see the memories in front of him, as if they were being played back on a screen in front of his eyes. He saw himself buying a new pair of drumstick every week; he saw himself meet Jon for the first time; he saw Ryan and Brendon making out over a granite counter top, with him and Jon off to the side hollering and wolf-whistling. He saw himself and his group of friends walking down the street on Christmas Eve, trying to decide what to do for the night. He heard Jon's laughter, crystal clear in his ears, and he couldn't take it any more. The ghost sank to his knees in the middle of the street, pulling at his hair and screaming at the world in general. Eventually, the screaming turned into sobbing, and the sobbing eventually stopped until Spencer was kneeling on the pavement with no more tears left to cry.

"Why are you doing this to me?", he whispered. "Why did you take away all of my friends? Why was I forced to watch them all die? Why can't I just move on already?" He didn't know exactly who he was talking to, but he screwed his eyes shut tightly and clenched his teeth when he didn't get a response. Rationally, Spencer knew he wouldn't get a response, whether it be from the universe or otherwise, but just as he was about to give up and head back to the graveyard one last memory popped up in his mind's eye.

_"They were right, you know.", Spencer said after a few moments._

_"Right about what?", Jon asked. Instead of giving him a verbal reply, Spencer leaned over, hovering over Jon for a second before leaning down and sealing their lips together. He pulled back before Jon could retaliate, though, and mumbled an apology. Jon touched his lips with his fingers, and Spencer let out a bitter laugh. '_ Oh God, why did I just kiss him? Am I fucking stupid? _'._

_"How weird is this? I mean, I get a crush on a ghost, and-", Spencer began, but he trailed off as he caught sight of Jon. The man was no longer a translucent shade of blue; instead, tan skin and warm, brown eyes were what Spencer saw. There was an honest-to-God halo of light surrounding Jon, from his soft-looking brown hair right down to his plastic flip flops. "Holy shit, Jon, you're glowing."_

_"I am?", Jon asked. He sounded confused, and when he lifted his hand to his face something that seemed to resemble recognition dawned on his face._

_"I'm moving on.", he whispered._

_"What?"_

_"I'm moving on. I'm... Son of a bitch, Ryan was right.", he repeated._

_"Right about what? What's going on?", Spencer asked. Everything was a whirlwind of confusion as Jon leaned forward and grabbed Spencer's face, dragging him in for a proper kiss. When Jon pulled back, Spencer could see that he was fading away into nothing. The taller male grabbed onto Jon's bicep, as if he could hold on and keep Jon right here with him forever._

_"Will I ever see you again?", Spencer asked._

_"Maybe, in the afterlife. But I don't want to see you for another fifty years, at least.", Jon answered. "Tell the others I said goodbye, okay?" Spencer nodded, even though he could feel tears running down his cheeks. Jon offered up one last smile before speaking his last words._

_"I love you, Spencer Smith."_

"I love you too.", Spencer whispered. Suddenly, something feather-light tugged at him from what seemed to be underneath his naval, and with a shaky smile he stood up. 

"I love you too, Jonathan Walker!" This time, he actually screamed it out loud, directing his voice up at the clouds and cupping his hands around his mouth. The tugging grew stronger, and when Spencer looked at himself in the glass reflection of the former music store he realized he was glowing too. With a smile on his lips, he screwed his eyes shut as the tugging pulled him up into the sky and ending his banishment to Earth.

* * *

When he did open his eyes again, he was in a forest with thick foliage and large trees. The sky in between the trees seemed to be several shades of reds, oranges, and pinks on one side while the other was a deep magenta with stars twinkling up above, so the male quickly assumed it was around sunset, or maybe dawn? He couldn't tell which was was east or west just yet.

"This is Heaven?", Spencer asked, mostly to himself. He quickly looked around, but didn't see a single other life form. With a heavy heart, Spencer realized that he wouldn't be able to see his friends in the afterlife after all. Letting out a long sigh, he started trudging through the trees when a bright red ball of _something_ barreled into him at break-neck speed. Spencer screamed, and whatever had hit him sent both of them tumbling into the undergrowth. Eventually stopping at the base of a rather large oak tree, and Spencer opened his eyes to reveal one Hayley Williams, looking completely healthy and smiling at him with some of the whitest teeth he had ever seen.

"Hayley!" Spencer leaned forward and hugged his friend, relieved to see that she was okay. "I was so worried, I thought-"

"Hey, don't worry about me. It's thanks to you that I'm even up here." When Spencer raised an eyebrow at her, she only smiled wider and continued speaking. "I was a ghost for all of like, what, twelve hours? I went back home to find you gone, but then suddenly I find myself up here! My unfinished business was to help figure out what _your_ unfinished business was, so when you moved on so did I."

"Well, you were right about my unfinished business. I never told Jon that I loved him back, and I did just that." Hayley huffed, standing up and offering Spencer a hand as she rolled her eyes.

"Well come on then, you giant walking romance novel, let's go find your friends."

"But they're not he-" Spencer was cut off as he yelped in surprise when Hayley yanked him forward suddenly, out of the treeline that he really should have noticed sooner and into a rather large clearing surrounded by trees on either side. There was a line of rose bushes next to the treeline, and the rest of the clearing was filled with several different flowers, from carnations to sweet peas. There were several human shapes huddled around the center of the clearing, kneeling in the flowers, and Spencer had to hold back laughter.

"Do you see him?" That was definitely Brendon's voice, and he had to hold back the tears that threatened to spill when he remembered Brendon's dying moments.

"No, I don't see him anywhere in Chicago." That was Tom, Jon's friend, who sounded quite a bit younger than Spencer remembered.

"Did he leave the city?", Ray's high voice asked, pushing at what seemed to be a tinier human (which could only be Frank) so he could have more room to peer down whatever they were looking at. Spencer and Hayley both took several steps forward until Spencer could reach out with his foot and kick whoever was in front of him- which turned out to be Mikey, judging by the brown mohawk-type hair-do and the excessively tight jeans- if he wanted to.

"We would be able to see him if he were anywhere on Earth, Ray. I just don't know where he went." Spencer's face broke out into a large, watery grin as he recognized Jon's beautiful voice, sounding like music to his ears after spending so damn long away from him.

"What are you guys looking for?", Spencer asked, leaning forward even more to stare down what seemed to be... a giant hole in the ground?

"Oh, we're looking for you.", Brendon replied, looking up at Spencer for all of a second before turning back down to look at the Earth stretched out beneath them. The other seven rose to their feet, all smiling stupidly, but Brendon kept on searching. "Do you guys think he's hiding out somewhere?"

"Babe, stand up and look over here.", Ryan said. 

"Not now, Ry, I'm trying to find-" Spencer could tell exactly when the information registered with Brendon, because his whole body shot up like a rocket and propelled itself at his childhood friend. 

"-Spencer! Oh my gosh, you're actually here!", Brendon gushed, burying his face into Spencer's chest. Ryan came next, grinning so wide Spencer was worried his face would split in half as he hugged both Brendon and Spencer at the same time.

"It's good to finally see you again, Spence."

"Good to see you, too, you idiot." Ryan flicked his forehead at the same time Frank launched himself onto Spencer's back, laughing loudly as Gerard hugged Frank and Spencer from behind. Mikey, Ray, and Tom all joined in on the group hug, welcoming the last member of their friend group back. When everyone stepped back and started to notice Hayley, Spencer turned around in circles to find Jon, but the bearded man was-

"Gotcha!", Jon's voice rang out right next to his ear, and Spencer may or may not have squealed as Jon picked him up and spun him around like they did in the movies. When he set Spencer down on the ground, Spencer immediately grabbed Jon's shoulders and dragged him forward, pressing their foreheads together. Jon was just as beautiful as he remembered, Spencer thought as he leaned in and gave Jon a slow, savory kiss.

"I got your flowers, so I planted them and they kind of grew into a garden.", Jon said once they broke apart, gesturing to all of the flowers in the clearing. Spencer was confused for all of five seconds before he remembered the bouquet he had left at Jon's grave, along with the note that was still probably half-buried in the ground above Jon's body. "And I got you some of my own." With that, Jon pulled out a beautiful bouquet of flowers and handed them to Spencer.

"Wow, this is the cheesiest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"Hey, you waited for me for more than fifty years. It's the least I can do." Spencer gave Jon one more kiss before taking the bouquet, complete with a little note sticking out in between a red carnation and a dandelion.

"Okay, these are some weird flower combinations.", Spencer laughed, and was pleased when Jon laughed along too.

"I only picked them out for the messages, really. I let Brendon help me."

"Ah, that's why it's covered in glitter.", Spencer observed, finally taking out the note and reading over it. Spencer's smile only widened, and when he was done reading he launched himself at Jon, crying tears of joy. He finally found his missing piece, and he wasn't letting go any time in the near future.

 _Red Carnation - My heart aches for you_  
_Dandelion - Faithfulness ; Happiness_  
_Lily Of The Valley - Return to happiness ; You've made my life complete_  
_Primrose - I can't live without you_  
_Single coral rose - Desire ; I still love you_


End file.
